


Ice

by shieldivarius



Series: Femslash Yuletide 2013 [12]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/F, Femslash Yuletide, Prompt: Ice, Skating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-18
Updated: 2013-12-18
Packaged: 2018-01-05 02:57:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1088785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shieldivarius/pseuds/shieldivarius
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It wasn’t unlike ballet, truthfully, but in ballet there wasn’t anything heavy strapped to your feet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ice

Being a spy, doing undercover work, meant that Natasha never felt quite adequate in her skills. She could fake almost anything, but sometimes jobs called for talents or techniques-almost always artistic-that were impossible to pass off as fake without at least a little bit of foreknowledge of the art. 

And when one of those roles came up, it was too late to study what she didn't know.

It had only happened once or twice, and neither time had her lack of knowledge been dire enough to tank the mission, but she never felt as confident going into those ops as she could, and in her profession, confidence was absolutely everything.

So Natasha's downtime, what little she ever managed to get of it, was put toward professional development. This year, that meant figure skating.

It wasn't unlike ballet, truthfully, but in ballet there wasn't anything heavy strapped to your feet, weighing you down and keeping you from achieving true height, and in ballet, balance was kept to your own body, your own muscles and tendons and bones against the floor with only the fabric, ribbon and leather of your Pointe shoes between flesh and dance surface.

Skates were so much more.

“You've been at this for a while,” Melinda called from the penalty box of the area. She held up a cup with steam pouring out the open top. “Come warm up.”

Natasha laughed. She'd been shedding layers with how much she was sweating, and was down to jeans and a t-shirt, the pile of clothes she'd been wearing on top to deal with the winter weather outside scattered across the rail in front of Melinda.

She skated over, coming to a stop in front of the box, and took the cup. 

“Thank you,” she said. “Are you joining me?”

“My skating abilities are limited to keeping at least one skate on the ice at all times,” Melinda said. 

Natasha, who had managed to perform a jump and nearly cut herself tumbling out of the air after not getting the speed required to pull off even a single axel, smiled. “I'm in favour of keeping my skates on the ice,” she said.

“I'll join you in a minute,” Melinda promised and Natasha nodded, skating off with her drink in hand. She'd done two laps before Melinda skated on behind her.

“How did the lesson go?” 

“It was dismal,” Natasha said. Melinda was laughing at her, the corners of her lips twitching up and down as she fought to keep it down. “What?”

Melinda tugged her glove off and passed it to her. “You have snow on your butt.”

Natasha brushed it off with the proffered glove. “I fell a few times,” she admitted, gesturing down at her wet pant legs. “More than a few.”

“Nothing's sprained?” Melinda asked, sounding concerned. 

Natasha shook her head. “I wasn't taking that kind of risk,” she said. “Though I should be, if I want to make any progress…” She trailed off, because Melinda was frowning at her and looked unimpressed. “What?”

“Don't hurt yourself learning a skill you're never going to need. S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't going to send you in on an op as a _figure skater_ of all things.”

It wasn't the first time Melinda had said it to her. She'd told Natasha, repeatedly, that she thought her skills were more than enough-were excellent, even, and she didn't need any more of them. Natasha had taken the compliment in the spirit it was given and looked up the information of the best figure skating instructor in the area. S.H.I.E.L.D. was footing the bill, and she'd used that to counter Melinda's argument.

She thought Melinda and Coulson might have had words over it, too.

“You can't know that,” Natasha pointed out, again.

Melinda rolled her eyes and ' _hmphed_ '. 

“The chances are so small, Natasha.”

“Not now that I've developed some of the requisite skill,” Natasha pointed out.

“S.H.I.E.L.D. has operatives other than you,” Melinda reminded her. 

“I know that,” Natasha replied. And she did. She also knew that S.H.I.E.L.D. hardly had anyone of comparable calibre. Natasha was good at what she did. She was proud of being good at what she did. Melinda understood that, she just didn't always like admitting it because sometimes that meant acknowledging that Natasha's methods of self-betterment and professional development weren't entirely, well, extreme.

“How's your routine coming?” Melinda asked after they'd skated another couple of laps in silence. 

Natasha raised a shoulder, skating over to the side and leaving her empty cup there before catching back up with Melinda. “Fine until the axel.”

“Skates on the ice,” Melinda suggested, then conceded. “Just don't get hurt. Coulson might've agreed to let you expense your lessons, but if you put yourself out of commission during training, that's going to end.

“And, Natasha.” Natasha had skated away from her, and now stopped and turned around, switching to pushing herself in reverse so she could see Melinda while they spoke. “I wish you weren't doing it under the guise of bettering yourself for S.H.I.E.L.D., but I'm glad you're taking time to learn something you enjoy.”

Feeling caught out, a blush spread across Natasha's cheeks even as she gave her partner a brilliant smile.

**Author's Note:**

> http://shieldivarius.tumblr.com


End file.
